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For the second day in a row, more than 1,000 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Utah: 1,280 on Thursday, after 1,488 on Wednesday.
The average of seven new two-day cases rose from 1,004 to 1,010, the highest average since Feb. 11.
The average age at which Utahns died of coronavirus has dropped significantly in recent weeks. They were 74 from the start of the pandemic until July 2, and are about 64 since then, according to analysis by The Salt Lake Tribune. Seven of the 14 deaths reported Thursday were among people aged 64 or under.
Fourteen Utahns were added to the death toll. According to the Utah Department of Health, five of those deaths occurred before July 19 and were added to the total after further testing.
Since February 23, there has only been one day with more than nine dead, 10 on July 31.
The case count is 392 higher than a week ago (888 on August 12). It is more than double what it was a month ago (566 on July 19) and almost five times what it was three months ago (265 on May 19). Six months ago, there were 783 new cases (February 19); and a year ago, there were 458 new cases (August 19, 2020).
In the past four weeks, unvaccinated Utahs were 5.5 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than vaccinated people, according to a UDOH analysis. Unvaccinated people were also 6.3 times more likely to be hospitalized and 4.9 times more likely to test positive for coronavirus.
An additional 3,563 Utahns were fully vaccinated last day, accounting for a total of 1,535,444, 46.9% of Utah’s total population.
According to UDOH, Utah has seen 7,757 “advanced” cases of COVID-19, people who contracted the virus two weeks or more after full vaccination. That is, one in 198 people are fully vaccinated.
Of this number, 460 have been hospitalized, one in 3,338 people completely vaccinated. And there have been 34 deaths, one in 45,160 people completely vaccinated.
Dose of vaccines administered the day before / total doses administered • 9,280 / 3,166,428.
Fully vaccinated Utahns • 1,535,444.
Cases reported last day • 1,280.
Deaths reported last day • 14.
There were five deaths in Salt Lake County: a 25- to 44-year-old man, a 45- to 64-year-old man and woman, and a 65- to 84-year-old man and woman.
San Juan County reported two deaths: a man and a woman aged 65 to 84. There were also two deaths in Utah County: a man aged 45 to 64 and a man aged 65 to 84. And two deaths in Weber County: a man aged 45 to 64 and a man aged 65 to 84.
A 45- to 64-year-old Cache County woman and an 85-year-old Sanpete County woman also died.
Tests reported last day • 7,878 people were tested for the first time. A total of 13,028 people were tested.
Hospitalizations reported last day • 399. This is one more than Wednesday. Of those currently hospitalized, 162 are in intensive care, seven more than on Wednesday.
Percentage of positive tests • According to the original method of the state, the rate is 16.2%. This is above the seven-day average of 13.9%.
The new state method counts all test results, including repeated tests by the same individual. Thursday’s rate was 9.8%, roughly the same as the seven-day average of 9.9%
[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Here’s what that means.]
Total so far • 450,539 cases; 2,563 dead; 19,547 hospitalizations; 3,043,699 people tested.
According to the Salt Lake County Department of Health, there have been 36 cases of COVID-19 reported in county schools in the past two weeks, and 16 of those cases were at the Pacific Heritage Academy in Salt Lake City, which began school on August 2, before most other schools. Fifteen other schools have had positive students; all have had less than five cases.
Enrollment at the Pacific Heritage Academy is approximately 325 degrees K-12.
This story is being developed and will be updated.